Zagreb Grand Prix 2018, Croatia – DAY ONE

By Mark Pickering on
27. Jul 2018

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Japan are top of the medal table following day one of the Zagreb Grand Prix 2018.

-48kg: 17-year-old Ukranian BILODID completes Grand Prix hat-trick Teenage sensation Daria BILODID (UKR) extended her winning-streak to 25 contests to wrap up her sixth win in nine months. BILODID, 17, who has never lost to a Japanese judoka, defeated world number three Irina DOLGOVA (RUS) to clinch her third Grand Prix gold medal. DOLGOVA, 22, was penalised for a third and final time and received hansoku-make as her Ukrainian foe maintained her sensational form heading into her second World Championships in September.

In the first semi-final world champion TONAKI Funa (JPN) fell to her nemesis and two-time Grand Slam winner BILODID by a waza-ari score. In the second semi-final world DOLGOVA bested world number 48 Francesca MILANI (ITA) by ippon to advance to the first women’s final of the competition.

The first bronze medal contest was won by Otgontsetseg GALBADRAKH (KAZ) who saw off a spirited effort from MILANI. World number seven GALBADRAKH stopped Italy’s MILANI from winning IJF silverware for the first time as the world-class Kazakh prevailed by a waza-ari which was the only score of the opening contest of the final block on Friday.

The second bronze medal was won by TONAKI who showed her character with a clinical finish to take a bronze medal back home to Japan. Tbilisi Grand Prix bronze medallist Melanie CLEMENT (FRA) was caught for a waza-ari and France’s world number nine was pinned down by TONAKI for a second and match-winning waza-ari.

-52kg: SHISHIME prepares for world title defence with Zagreb gold World champion SHISHIME Ai (JPN) conquered world number three Amandine BUCHARD (FRA) to avenge her 2013 defeat in their one and only previous meeting. Top seed BUCHARD fell to number two seed SHISHIME by a waza-ari score as the Japanese topped a Grand Prix medal podium for the third time.

In the first semi-final BUCHARD bested Cancun Grand Prix bronze medallist Angelica DELGADO (USA) by ippon. In the second semi-final SHISHIME saw off London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Charline VAN SNICK (BEL) by ippon to secure her place in the gold medal contest.

The second bronze medal was won by DELGADO who came find behind to defeat Tashkent Grand Prix winner Betina TEMELKOVA (ISR). DELGADO trailed to a waza-ari score but never lost her composure as she countered an osoto-gari with one of her own for a thunderous ippon.

-57kg:DEGUCHI wins all-Canadian final for back-to-back Grand Prix gold
Paris Grand Slam winner Christa DEGUCHI (CAN) won her fifth competition in a row and fifth in 2018 to continue her run through the category and up towards the summit of -57kg. Hohhot Grand Prix silver medallist Jessica KLIMKAIT (CAN) and DEGUCHI – who have been teammates since 2017 – had met twice previously and the latter had won both of those contests which occurred in April and May of 2018. Their third clash culminated in the same manner as world number 13 DEGUCHI beat world number 14 KLIMKAIT to close in on a title push at her first senior World Championships in Baku. KLIMKAIT was disqualified after picking up three shidos as Canada dominated a star-filled weight division in Zagreb.

In the first semi-final DEGUCHI again haunted her former team as she beat Grand Prix debutant FUNAKUBO Haruka (JPN). DEGUCHI opened the scoring with a waza-ari and held down her rival with a kuzure-kesa-gatame for her second and match-winning waza-ari. In the second semi-final Olympic champion Rafaela SILVA was thwarted by Hohhot Grand Prix silver medallist Jessica KLIMKAIT (CAN) by the margin of a single waza-ari score.

The first bronze medal was won by Düsseldorf Grand Slam silver medallist KARAKAS Hedvig (HUN) who outlasted SILVA after five minutes of golden score. SILVA picked up a third shido in added time for passivity to gift a bronze medal to her long-time rival.

The second bronze medal was won by ne-waza specialist FUNAKUBO who held down European champion Nora GJAKOVA (KOS) in golden score. FUNAKUBO outfought GJAKOVA when it came to the groundwork and the Japanese pinned her down with osaekomi-waza for ippon to capture her first senior medal on the IJF World Judo Tour.

-60kg: Double world champion TAKATO seals sixth straight gold medal World champion TAKATO Naohisa (JPN) won his sixth competition in a row to extend his winning run to 26 straight contests. The two-time world champion met Antalya Grand Prix bronze medallist Adonis DIAZ (USA) in a first time encounter as the world number 24 from America was a shock finalist in Croatia. Eight-time Grand Slam winner TAKATO won his second Grand Prix title in just 57 seconds with a crunching ouchi-gari earning ippon to provide his first Grand Prix title since his 2014 victory in his happy hunting ground of Budapest.

In the first semi-final TAKATO defeated Madrid European Open bronze medallist Andrea CARLINO (ITA) by a waza-ari score. In the second semi-final Belgrade European Cup silver medallist David PULKRABEK (CZE) was spectacularly thrown by DIAZ with a majestic utsuri-goshi for ippon.

The first bronze medal was won by PULKRABEK who booked his place on an IJF medal podium for the first time in his career. Former world silver medallist Rustam IBRAYEV (KAZ) lost out to the Czech Republic judoka who made a successful first appearance in the final block on the IJF stage. PULKRABEK scored two waza-ari as IBRAYEV was shut out and had to settle for fifth-place.

The second bronze medal went to 29-year-old European bronze medallist Ashley MCKENZIE (GBR) who dispatched 21-year-old CARLINO with aplomb. Two-time Olympian MCKENZIE threw with his trademark seoi-otoshi to wrap up a convincing win and position himself further inside the world’s top 10 as he aims for World Championships honours in Baku this year.

-66kg: World number three FLICKER finishes first for Israel with Baku looming
European bronze medallist Tal FLICKER (ISR) won his first IJF medal of the year to set out his intentions of again being on the World Championships podium this autumn. The reigning world bronze medallist defeated Ukraine’s first and only ever world champion Georgii ZANTARAIA (UKR) by a waza-ari score to celebrate winning the second Grand Prix title of his thriving career.

In the first semi-final three-time Grand Slam bronze medallist DOVDON Altansukh (MGL) lost out to ZANTARAIA in golden score when he received his third penalty. In the second semi-final FLICKER conquered European champion Adrian GOMBOC (SLO) by ippon with a minute left on the clock.

The first bronze medal was won by one-time Grand Prix winner ABE who recovered from his shock defeat in the preliminaries – at the hands of DOVDON - to take his anticipated place on the podium even though it was at the lower level than usual. ABE graced a bronze medal contest for the first time on the IJF World Judo Tour and won by ippon against the Slovenian after an onslaught of attacks.

The second bronze medal went to Düsseldorf Grand Slam bronze medallist Baruch SHMAILOV (ISR) who threw DOVDON for ippon with a textbook uchi-mata. DOVDON failed to win a 10th Grand Prix medal as he was caught cold by the Israeli who could now relax and watch his teammate FLICKER in the final.